


Baby, It's Cold Outside (and in My Heart)

by ChocolateXMyMouth



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Character Study, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Dancing, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Slow Dancing, Snow, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:21:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29245014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChocolateXMyMouth/pseuds/ChocolateXMyMouth
Summary: (takes place after S13, but no spoilers)It's been three weeks since the Ninja left for Shintaro, and not a single word back since... Pixal's sure they're okay, but her heart is still heavy, and she's also really bored. So, what's a girl to do? Well... maybe it's time to make some noise.(Pixane Fluff/minor Angst with the focus being on Pixal. Rated G for wholesomeness!)
Relationships: P.I.X.A.L./Zane (Ninjago)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Baby, It's Cold Outside (and in My Heart)

Nindroids were not emotionless creatures.

And sometimes, Pixal didn't exactly like this fact.

Because here she was, sitting at the kitchen barstool, looking at the team photo that was placed there and feeling nothing but sadness and worry. It had been three weeks - three full weeks - since the Ninja had departed for Shintaro. Not a single word since. She knew that communications on the Destiny's Bounty weren't exactly top notch, but still… The complete lack of word was disheartening.

She had cleaned the entire Monastery twice now. It was practically spotless all over again. Even the fridge was clean - that _never_ happened!

She had tinkered with her mech, and tried to find the blueprints for Lloyd's Titan Mech to see if she could possibly distract herself with remaking it - no luck, but she had found a ton of old plans she did think would be fun to work on at some point, including vehicles for Nya and Jay's upcoming birthdays.

But nothing, it seemed, could keep her occupied _and_ satisfied… she didn't really think that would happen until the Ninja came back.

So, what was a girl to do?

She missed Zane so much _…_ all she wanted to do was hear his voice. Hug him, hold him, have him hold her - and she wasn't even that big of a "touchy-feely" nindroid.

Then, she looked out the window placed in the adjacent room to the kitchen… it was very pretty outside today. The clouds were all over the sky, barely leaving any blue, but not in a bad stormy way… as a matter of fact, it created quite a nice atmosphere.

...Was today a good day for it?

There was no thunder; no forecasts even indicated drizzling rain. Just clouds… but maybe that needed to change.

Maybe _she_ needed to be the thunder.

The fierce, unwavering-in-combat Samurai X was not going to let her feelings stop her from doing what she loved...

And, you know what? Yes - it was a good day for it.

She was sad and needed a distraction, so Pixal decided on doing something that she hadn't done in quite some time, but seemed oh so needed now.

She hurried back to her room, and went into her closet to change her clothes. When she stepped out, she was wearing a purple leotard with pretty snowflake patterns adorning it, and a baby blue skirt that showed her legs from below her knees.

After putting the clothing on, she looked at herself in her big mirror behind her bedroom door - no part of her stopped herself from telling herself she was beautiful. And that, despite how little it seemed, was such a good feeling to her. Self-confidence was so important, she had come to realize lately. Maybe Kai did have a point there...

Then, she took off her tennis shoes that she had worn for the past few hours, and walked over to her closet. Gently, she grabbed a new pair of sleek, black, t-strap heels that she adored. Gently placing them on, and buckling the strap, she made no secret of her excitement to do this again.

It was easily the first time in over a week she had truly been happy.

As she stepped out of her carpeted room, the shoes began to make their familiar click-clacking sound against the hardwood floors of the Monastery. The feeling made Pixal feel something inside she couldn't exactly describe, but it just felt _right._

As she stepped outside, and her shoes touched the rock flooring of the outside of the Monastery, she looked up to the sky…

It was snowing.

It made no sense for it to be snowing this early, but sometimes Ninjago would experience an unusual season of weather. Today seemed to be one of those times. And as she looked down at her clothes…

She smiled.

A true, genuine smile - one she hadn't been able to muster in so long.

She spread her arms out, as if to make sure there would be space for her to do what she was about to do - like someone was about to intrude on her. Unless it was one of her teammates, or her dearly beloved, no. That wouldn't be happening.

Then… Pixal started to tap dance.

She hadn't done it in forever, so for the brief moment she was tap dancing, her movements were quick, sharp, stiff and all in all just not very graceful - she stopped, and found herself missing that lovely sound so much. Her soft, green eyes looked down at her feet with a sharp gaze, as if they were looking back at her like she was stupid. This wasn't normal… but it was okay. She knew this took time to get readjusted to.

"I just want to do something that makes me happy, can you work with me on that?" she said, looking down. "...And, now I'm talking to my tap dancing shoes. Great. I've officially lost it."

But still, ignoring what she had just done, she decided to work on her moves a little bit. She remembered her favorite, the buffalo step, with ease, and decided to do a couple of those in place to get herself warmed up. Then came another favorite step - rolling shuffles. She slowly did both of them, before speeding them up and probably damaging the floor beyond repair.

Wait, it was a flagstone floor - it didn't matter!

(Still, was it exactly the best surface for her shoes, though?)

Ignoring that thought though, she did feel better about her tapping. She decided to do some soft and slow dancing, just to reignite that spark for real...

And so, she closed her eyes, moved her arms, and outstretched her foot, tapping her toe quickly and rhythmically, but standing as still as a statue otherwise. She sighed deeply as she just let the feeling wash over her entirety, and calmly scraped the toe tap of her shoe over the radius her legs allowed her to form.

As she opened her eyes again, she was able to smile once more.

Then, she did something that could be considered "funny" if you were an oddball, but she didn't care. No one was around to see her tap, and she didn't really care at this point.

She started skipping.

Skipping itself was not considered fun by her, but with the added click-clacks of her heels as she jumped around, the activity suddenly had new life breathed into it. Pixal couldn't stop the small giggle that bubbled out from her mouth, and she found a new swing of happiness come into her feet and in her soul. Why had she not done this earlier?

Then, she eyed the stairs leading up to the Monastery. She smirked, running over and standing completely still in front of them - she had seen this in a movie once, and now it was time to see if she really did retain everything she saw…

She knocked her shoe against the stair, then on it. Then, she hopped on it, each tap touching it separately. Pixal repeated this process all the way up the short staircase, then did the same going back down. Again, she covered her lips, and giggled softly. In celebration, she jumped up and clicked her heels in the air - now this was uplifting!

Oh, what would her teammates think if they saw her doing this?

But that was no longer a negative thought - it always had been whenever she tap danced in secret before. But now, she was almost eager to show them…

If only they'd show they were returning.

Pixal sighed deeply, and stretched out her arms again. Snapping her fingers, she began to tap once more - but this time, she didn't feel the typical joy that came with the improvisation she was doing early. She didn't feel the sadness she had felt earlier, reminiscing over her team coming home…

It was… just _feel._

Pixal heard _and_ felt the taps echoing off of the rock flooring, and felt her body's movements correspond to each individual sound. There was no beat present that was music - just the beat of her feet. And that was okay - it was all the woman needed.

As her eyes remained closed, certain sounds reminded her of certain people…

The slow-then-fast taps reminded her of Jay and Kai, and how either of them could light up with energy within a second. Cole and Lloyd were brought to her mind by a certain combo that contained heavy emphasis on sound and rhythm, indicating their groundedness in their roles. The smooth and scraping taps were easy to put on Nya, as she could either go with the flow or wouldn't move a muscle.

And then… Zane.

Gosh, what didn't remind her of Zane at this point?

The snow outside, the fact he was one of two people who knew she tap danced on the team, the fact that his room had been empty for the past three weeks and each time she passed by it, it tugged on her heartstrings even more…

And yet, the thing that reminded her of Zane most… was a single " _tap!_ "against the ground. Seeming so simple on the surface, and yet, the story behind it could amass a hundred thousand words.

She opened her eyes briefly, and saw that a very soft and light coat of snow had fallen to the ground, and her dancing was evident via the trails she had blazed (or, tapped) into the snow. Her tap shoes glistened, their black polish now shining as it had been coated with wet melted snowflakes.

And then, she brushed her hand up to her face… but it was wet in more than one place on her cheek. Almost like a stream…

Was she _crying?_

She hadn't even realized it if so… but once she thought about it, it made sense. Her thoughts had gotten surprisingly deep during her last dance, and the more she dwelled on it… the more she just missed Zane.

Pixal looked up to the sky, and smiled sadly.

And then, she sat down on the step she had previously danced on with glee, now feeling hurt in her heart almost never felt before. She sniffled, bringing her knees up to her face, and softly shaking into them.

Pixal knew crying isn't childish - it was healthy when done while hurting. And yes, robots could cry. Well, she knew she and Zane could, at least. And now… well, now seemed like as good a time as any.

As she cried, however, not all of her tears came from heartache - she smiled as she reminisced over the good memories, even if they pained her once more afterward.

But then…

The ground began to shake.

She looked up, and saw three massive sails rising steadily outside of the Monastery walls. She gasped audibly, and covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

Was… was it real? Were they-

Her thoughts were interrupted when Zane, a literal knight in shining armor (that new gold getup was something she could really dig), came through the gates and smiled so widely when he saw her.

"ZANE!" she exclaimed, running full force in tap shoe heels in the snow (next time she probably shouldn't do that) to jump into his arms and give him the biggest hug she had ever given him.

"Hahaha, hello to you too, Pixal!" Zane laughed, hugging back.

"Why didn't you contact me?! I was so worried!" Pixal exclaimed, fully wrapped around her boyfriend.

"Radios were shot - I'll explain it along the way," Zane smiled. "And I see… someone's been tap dancing, huh?"

Pixal's cheeks simulated a deep shade of red, knowing she couldn't deny it. "Uhm… y-yes. I do believe your assessment is correct. And-And, wait, what? Explain 'along the way'?"

"You're gonna want to pack your bags, my darling - we're on an adventure quest!" Zane smiled. "I'll meet you on the Bounty, darling. We'll have all the time we want to talk along the way."

"O-Oh, okay!" Pixal nodded, giving Zane one more hug before running back to her room.

She was _so thankful_ not one of the Ninja saw her in her tap getup, and immediately changed out of it back into her Samurai X gear. She then started to pack the essentials for whatever trip she was going to be going on with these crazy people…

But she stopped when she looked at her tap gear on her bed.

An inward debate took place inside her head for the next moment or so, before she blushed and smiled softly. With as much care as she could give, she put the leotard, skirt, and tap shoes at the very bottom of her bag.

Only packing the essentials.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/Kudos give me life! <3


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